Submitted photo Pictured, from left: Amanda Frank, Caitlin Wilson, Jen Maurer, Mayor Bob Beussman, and Ryan Ziemer.

NEW ULM — In cooperation with New Ulm High School, Allina Health has created a program to teach students, staff members and parents about stress-caused mental illnesses, how to detect the symptoms and how to deal with them.

Jennifer Maurer, who works for Allina Health as a Wellness Specialist, said that the program was created to address a deficiency in mental well-being programs. The necessity for this program was made clear after a survey among students in Minnesota revealed that one in five students indicated experiencing symptoms of depression and the number of ninth grade students reporting mental health concerns lasting six months or more increased from 12.5 percent to 17.3 percent in just three years.

The key aspect of the “Change to Chill” program is according to Maurer for the students to become more mindful about mental illnesses and stress, provide students with ways to deal with stress and to build their resiliency. That also includes educating the parents and the educators to provide information for the students and to help them with possible struggles.

Caitlin Wilson, a counselor teacher at New Ulm High School, hopes that the program will help students not only to learn in how to deal with stress, but to also develop an ability to recognize signs of stress. Her hope is that the students will learn to talk more openly about mental illnesses and if they are feeling stressed out. Another aspect she feels very strongly about is the destigmatization of mental illnesses and she is convinced that the program will be helpful in this regard, too.

Maurer further pointed out that the “Change to Chill” website was specifically created by teens for teens. She added that it was important to Allina to make information on mental well-being accessible to the public and that the website is not only targeted at students, but also at parents and educators to understand and help their students and recognize symptoms of stress like sleeping problems, headaches, a change in appetite or concentration problems.

Wilson stated that implementing mental well-being and detecting stress into the school schedule will be key in the future. She plans for example to hold monthly faculty meetings with the teachers about what the students will learn and how mental well-being might be integrated there. Additionally, she talked about having a monthly session with ninth and tenth graders to teach them destressing techniques such as meditation or mindfulness and strengthening their resiliency.

Wilson further added that “I like that Allina has come forward with a program that proactively helps students deal with stress, to teach them strategies and the ability to recognize it as opposed to just being reactive. That gives me an opportunity to start strong into this school year.”

To introduce the partnership to the students, New Ulm High School hosted “Chill Week” from September 10 to 14th.